Point source detection

ABSTRACT

A system and method. The system may include a display, a lens having distortion, an image generator, and a processor. The lens may be configured to focus light received from an environment. The image generator may be configured to receive the light from the lens and output a stream of images as image data, wherein each of the stream of images is distorted. The processor may be configured to: receive the image data from the image generator; detect a point source object in the stream of images of the image data; enhance the point source object in the stream of images of the image data; undistort the stream of images of the image data having an enhanced point source object; and output a stream of undistorted images as undistorted image data to the display.

BACKGROUND

The airline industry has adopted enhanced vision systems (EVSs) (e.g.,enhanced flight vision systems (EFVSs)) to be able to see airportapproach lights at adequate distance in foggy weather, allowing theairline industry to reduce costly weather-related delays. Additionally,the airport industry is likely to phase out traditional approach lightsin favor of light emitting diode (LED) approach lights, which presents anew challenge to detect LED approach lights in foggy weather.

For EVS detection of airport approach lights, the performance limit istypically set by a case of daytime fog. Due to fog attenuation, a pointsource signal from an approach light may be low, and due to the daytimefog environment, the background may be high. As such, this may result inlow contrast information, e.g., a small ratio of signal to background(SB) (and/or contrast), which may be hard to detect by an EVS undersystem noise.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed hereinare directed to a system. The system may include a display, a lenshaving distortion, an image generator, and a processor. The lens may beconfigured to focus light received from an environment. The imagegenerator may be configured to receive the light from the lens andoutput a stream of images as image data, wherein each of the stream ofimages is distorted. The processor may be configured to: receive theimage data from the image generator; detect a point source object in thestream of images of the image data; enhance the point source object inthe stream of images of the image data; undistort the stream of imagesof the image data having an enhanced point source object; and output astream of undistorted images as undistorted image data to the display.

In a further aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosedherein are directed to a vision system. The vision system may include alens having distortion, an image generator, and a processor. The lensmay be configured to focus light received from an environment. The imagegenerator may be configured to receive the light from the lens andoutput a stream of images as image data, wherein each of the stream ofimages is distorted. The processor may be configured to: receive theimage data from the image generator; detect a point source object in thestream of images of the image data; enhance the point source object inthe stream of images of the image data; undistort the stream of imagesof the image data having an enhanced point source object; and output astream of undistorted images as undistorted image data to a display.

In a further aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosedherein are directed to a method. The method may include: focusing, by alens, light received from an environment, the lens having distortion;receiving, by an image generator, the light from the at least one lens;outputting, by the image generator, a stream of images as image data,wherein each of the stream of images is distorted; receiving the imagedata from the at least one image generator; detecting a point sourceobject in the stream of images of the image data; enhancing the pointsource object in the stream of images of the image data; undistortingthe stream of images of the image data having an enhanced point sourceobject; and outputting a stream of undistorted images as undistortedimage data to a display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Implementations of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be betterunderstood when consideration is given to the following detaileddescription thereof. Such description makes reference to the includeddrawings, which are not necessarily to scale, and in which some featuresmay be exaggerated and some features may be omitted or may berepresented schematically in the interest of clarity. Like referencenumerals in the drawings may represent and refer to the same or similarelement, feature, or function. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to theinventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 2A is a view of an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 including acamera according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 2B is a view of an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 including a focalplane array (FPA) according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view of an environment of some embodimentsaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 4A is an exemplary graph of properties of a lens without distortionaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 4B is an exemplary graph of properties of a centered lens havingdistortion of some embodiments according to the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein.

FIG. 5A is an exemplary square grid of points in the field of view (FOV)maps to the FPA for an undistorted centered lens of some embodimentsaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 5B is an exemplary square grid of points in the FOV maps to the FPAfor a distorted centered lens of some embodiments according to theinventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 5C is an exemplary square grid of points in the FOV maps to the FPAfor a distorted decentered lens of some embodiments according to theinventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method according tothe inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 7A is a view of an exemplary embodiment of the EFVS of FIG. 1according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 7B is a view of an exemplary embodiment of the EFVS of FIG. 1according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 7C is a view of an exemplary embodiment of the EFVS of FIG. 1according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein in detail, it is to be understood that the inventiveconcepts are not limited in their application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangement of the components or steps ormethodologies set forth in the following description or illustrated inthe drawings. In the following detailed description of embodiments ofthe instant inventive concepts, numerous specific details are set forthin order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventiveconcepts. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart having the benefit of the instant disclosure that the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known features may not be described indetail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure. Theinventive concepts disclosed herein are capable of other embodiments orof being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is forthe purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As used herein a letter following a reference numeral is intended toreference an embodiment of the feature or element that may be similar,but not necessarily identical, to a previously described element orfeature bearing the same reference numeral (e.g., 1, 1 a, 1 b). Suchshorthand notations are used for purposes of convenience only, andshould not be construed to limit the inventive concepts disclosed hereinin any way unless expressly stated to the contrary.

Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to aninclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or Bis satisfied by anyone of the following: A is true (or present) and B isfalse (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (orpresent), and both A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of embodiments of the instant inventive concepts. This isdone merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the inventiveconcepts, and “a” and “an” are intended to include one or at least oneand the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that itis meant otherwise.

Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment,” or “someembodiments” means that a particular element, feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.The appearances of the phrase “in some embodiments” in various places inthe specification are not necessarily all referring to the sameembodiment, and embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed mayinclude one or more of the features expressly described or inherentlypresent herein, or any combination of sub-combination of two or moresuch features, along with any other features which may not necessarilybe expressly described or inherently present in the instant disclosure.

Broadly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may bedirected to a system and a method configured to utilize a decenteredlens and/or a lens with distortion to improve detection of point sourceobjects by increasing a pixel density in a region of interest. In someembodiments, the lens distortion may be used to improve contrast ofpoint source images (which may be otherwise too low to detect undernoise) while covering a wide field of view with constrained number ofpixels.

Some embodiments include detecting an object (e.g., an approach light)as a point source, which may light up only one pixel. This is often thecase in applications where the approach light is far and where ahigh-performance lens is used to achieve small blur (e.g., caused byaberration and diffraction). Some embodiments may include the use ofwavelengths other than visible lights, such as infrared light (e.g.,short-wavelength infrared (SWIR), mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR), and/orlong-wavelength infrared (LWIR)). For example, FPAs for SWIR, MWIR andLWIR tend to have a relatively small amount of pixels available, i.e.low resolution, and may benefit from the point source detection of someembodiments. In such pixel-number-starved situations, some embodimentseffectively increase the resolution in the area where it is mostlyneeded in order to improve contrast for point source detection.

Some embodiments may improve an SB ratio of an approach light by using asmaller instantaneous field of view (IFOV) because for a point source(e.g., an approach light which may be captured as a single pixel by asensor), the SB ratio may be approximately proportional (e.g.,proportional) to 1/IFOV². IFOV may be the angular projection of a singlepixel through a lens, which, to the first order, may be approximatelythe total number of horizontal pixels divided by the total horizontalfield of view (FOV) for square-shaped pixels. For a fixed sensor with afixed number of available pixels, a small IFOV may mean a smaller totalFOV (via longer effective focal length (EFFL)), which may miss a totalFOV requirement. On the other hand, increasing the effective number ofpixels by using multiple cameras, zoomable lenses, scanning, or a largerfocal plane array (FPA) may unnecessarily complicate optomechanics, mayincrease electrical bandwidth, and may increase size, weight, and power(SWaP).

Some embodiments may utilize a high distortion (e.g., negativedistortion and/or barrel/fisheye distortion) lens to improve detectionof approach lights in a degraded visual environment (e.g., scattering orobscuring media (e.g., micro-particles causing attenuation and strongbackground), smoke, smog, and/or fog (e.g., daytime fog)). For example,by fixing the number of pixels and the required FOV, the lens negativedistortion may create a smaller IFOV in the central region of the FOVand a larger IFOV in a peripheral region of the FOV. In a typicalapproach in foggy weather (which is normally not windy in fog), theremay be a low probability that all the approach lights will appear in theperipheral FOV. Most likely, the approach lights may appear in the lowercentral FOV. By an appropriate vertical shift between the lens and thesensor (e.g., a focal plane array (FPA) or a camera), a “sweet spot” ofsmall IFOV region can be optimally located in lower central FOV wherethe approach lights may appear. Some embodiments (e.g., which mayinclude a distorted and/or decentered lens) may allow for a same totalFOV and number of pixels while having smaller IFOV for use as comparedto a centered lens with weak or no distortion. Additionally, a largerIFOV in peripheral regions may be adequate for a picture view for apilot rather than for point source detection of approach lights. Someembodiments may utilize a processor executing software to present anundistorted picture for display to a pilot. Some embodiments, for lensdesign optimization, may utilize tilting the sensor (e.g., camera orFPA) and/or focus of the sensor, and some embodiments may utilizetilting of selected elements (e.g., a lens) and/or surfaces. Someembodiments may include a decentered lens with distortion, which mayinclude the use of mirror-symmetric free forms. In some embodiments, ahigh-performance lens may be required so that the aberration smearing ofa point source is less than a pixel.

While contrast may be improved by removing a constant background levelby a processor executing software, this does not improve a signal tonoise ratio (SNR). In the case of point source detection in daytime fog,the noise is often set by the well capacity of the sensors (e.g., FPAsand/or cameras). Short integration time or attenuating filter is oftenemployed to avoid background saturation. Some embodiments may improvethe SNR for point source detection in daytime fog by boosting up a weaksignal while keeping the same background.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-2B, an exemplary embodiment of a systemaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein is depicted. Insome embodiments, the system may include a vehicle (e.g., automobile, atrain, a watercraft, a submersible vehicle, or an aircraft 10 (e.g., anairplane or a helicopter)), which may include a vision system (e.g., anEFVS 100, a synthetic visions system (SVS), or a combined vision system(CVS)) and a display 112, some or all of which may be communicativelycoupled at a given time. The EFVS 100 may include at least one lens 102,at least one image generator (e.g., at least one sensor 104 (e.g., atleast one camera 104A and/or at least one FPA 104B)), and at least onecomputing device 106, some or all of which may be communicativelycoupled at a given time.

In some embodiments, the lens 102 may focus light (e.g., visible lightand/or infrared light (e.g., short-wavelength infrared (SWIR),mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR), and/or long-wavelength infrared (LWIR)))received from a degraded visual environment (e.g., an environment of arunway and approach lights at least partially obscured by daytime fogconditions) onto the image generator (e.g., the sensor 104 (e.g., thecamera 104A and/or the FPA 104B)). The lens 102 may include one ormultiple lens elements. The lens 102 may be any suitable lens, such as amulti-element glass image forming optic or a catadioptric or reflectiveelement image forming optic. In some embodiments, the lens 102 may be adecentered (e.g., off-centered) lens and/or a lens with distortion. Forexample, the lens 102 may be a decentered lens with high distortion withbarrel/fisheye type distortion. In some embodiments, the lens 102 mayinclude tilted elements. The sensor 104 can also be tilted. In someembodiments, the lens 102 may be an axial symmetric lens; however, inother embodiments, the lens 102 may be non-symmetric. Some embodimentsuse the distortion of the lens to create a denser pixel sampling in theregion of interest (where the point sources are located) at the expenseof coarse pixel sampling for peripheral area in order to conserve thetotal number of pixels available from the FPA 104B. The amount ofdistortion and the distortion's distribution over FOV may be designspecific.

The image generator (e.g., the sensor 104 (e.g., the camera 104A and/orthe FPA 104B)) may be configured to receive light from the lens 102 andmay be configured to output at least one stream of images as image datato the computing device 106, wherein each of the stream of images isdistorted. The stream of image data may correspond to captured images ofa degraded visual environment (e.g., an environment of a runway andapproach lights with daytime fog conditions) of the system. For example,based on the distortion and/or the decenteredness of the lens 102, theimage generator may have a field of view (FOV) that may have a firstregion (e.g., a lower central region of the FOV) of relatively lowerinstantaneous field of view (IFOV) as compared to a second region (e.g.,a peripheral region) of relatively higher IFOV surrounding the firstregion.

The computing device 106 may include at least one processor 108 and atleast one memory 112, some or all of which may be communicativelycoupled at any given time. The processor 108 may be communicativelycoupled to the image generator (e.g., the sensor 104 (e.g., the camera104A and/or the FPA 104B) and the at least one display 112 via at leastone data bus, such as an avionics data bus, Aeronautical Radio INC.(ARINC) 429, Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX), Ethernet,military standard MIL-STD-1553, and/or Firewire. In some embodiments,the at least one processor 108 may be implemented as at least onegeneral purpose processor, at least one graphics processing unit (GPU),at least one field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The at least oneprocessor 108 may be configured to collectively perform any or all ofthe operations disclosed throughout.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor 108 may be configured tocollectively perform: receive the image data from the at least one imagegenerator; detect at least one point source object in the stream ofimages of the image data; enhance the at least one point source objectin the stream of images of the image data; undistort the stream ofimages of the image data having at least one enhanced point sourceobject; and/or output a stream of undistorted images as undistortedimages to the at least one display.

In some embodiments, each of the at least one point source object in thestream of images may be a single pixel in the stream of images. In someembodiments, the at least one point source object may include at leastone approach light.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor 108 being configured toenhance the at least one point source object in the stream of images ofthe image data further comprises the at least one processor 108 beingconfigured to enhance the at least one point source object in the streamof images of the image data by increasing a size of each of the at leastone point source object from a single pixel to multiple pixels. Forexample, the at least one processor may increase a size of each of theat least one point source object from a single pixel to the single pixelsurrounded by adjacent pixels.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor 108 being configured toenhance the at least one point source object in the stream of images ofthe image data further comprises the at least one processor 108 beingconfigured to enhance the at least one point source object in the streamof images of the image data by changing at least one of a color (e.g.,from a whitish or gray color to red, green, blue, yellow, orange,purple, or magenta) or brightness of the at least one point sourceobject.

The at least one display 112 (e.g., at least one head-up display (HUD)and/or at least one head-down display (HDD)) may be configured toreceive image data from the at least one processor 108 and to presentimages to a user (e.g., a pilot). For example, the display may display astream of undistorted images with enhanced point source objects (e.g.,approach lights). In some embodiments, the display 112 may beimplemented as a vision system display (e.g., an EFVS, SVS, or CVSdisplay) configured to present visions system images (e.g., EFVS, SVS,or CVS images) to a pilot.

Some embodiments may include multiple lenses 102 and multiple sensors104 such that with images processed to be displayed on one display 112.Additionally, some embodiments may include multiple sensors 104, eachcovering a different spectral band and/or different field of view, withimages all being sent to the display 112, wherein one, some, or all ofthe sensors 104 and lenses 102 have distortion allowing smaller IFOV inchosen region of a scene.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , an exemplary view of an environment of someembodiments according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein isdepicted. The environment may include a runway 302 and approach lights304 at least partially obscured by daytime fog. In some embodiments, theapproach lights 304 may be LED approach lights. In some embodiments,when a raw image of the environment is produced by the image generator(e.g., the sensor 104 (e.g., the camera 104A and/or the FPA 104B)), theapproach lights 304 may be represented as point source objects (e.g., asingle pixel in size) in a foggy background. If the raw image with pointsource objects were displayed to a pilot without enhancement, the pilotmay be unable to detect the approach lights against the background ofthe daytime fog.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, an exemplary graph of properties of a lenswithout distortion is depicted. For example, consider a square-shapedFPA with axial symmetric lens. If a faraway object is at certain angleANG from axis, the object will be project onto the FPA at certaindistance d away from a center of the FPA. For a lens without distortion,d=EFFL*tan(ANG) where EFFL is the effective focal length. The imagelocation variable is described by d and the object location variable byits direction tangent tan(ANG). The relationship between the twovariable is linear as shown. To simplify, a normalized variable may beused. hi may be d normalized by the FPA half size dmax, and ho astan(ANG) normalized by tan(ANGmax) corresponding to the edge for thesquare-shaped FOV. Normalization does not change the linearrelationship, so hi is proportional to ho. In this case, hi=ho becausethe edge of FOV must map to the edge of FPA, such that hi=1 when ho=1.It should be noted that the curve passes point (1,1), and the curvepasses through (1.414, 1.414) since that point may corresponds to thecorner of the field.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, an exemplary graph of properties of a centeredlens having distortion of some embodiments according to the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein is depicted. The curve is nonlinear,representing distortion. The curve is monotonic and passes (1, 1) so theobject at the edge of FOV still get mapped to the edge of FPA. However,the curve becomes more compressed as the field moves away from thecenter (0,0). The larger slope of the curve indicates higher pixelsampling density and/or smaller IFOV. So, the IFOV gets smaller (withhigher pixel density) as the field point moves toward center. The slopeis largest at the center and is larger than the slope in FIG. 4A. Theslope in FIG. 4B is 1.8× of the slope of FIG. 4A. In some embodiments,the slope may be any suitable slope greater than 1× of the slope of alens without distortion as shown in FIG. 1A (e.g., greater than 1.1×,greater than 1.3×, greater than 1.5×, greater than 1.9×, etc.). So, IFOVnear the center is reduced 1.8× compared to the case of lens withoutdistortion as shown in FIG. 4A. This translates to (1.8)², which isabout 3 times improvement in contrast (as compared to FIG. 4A). In someembodiments, the improvement in contrast compared to a lens withoutdistortion may be any suitable improvement in contrast greater than 1×as compared to a lens without distortion as shown in FIG. 1A (e.g.,greater than 1.1×, greater than 1.9×, greater than 2×, greater than 3×,greater than 3.5×, etc.). The larger slope also means bigger EFFL. So,the EFFL for the lens with distortion is 1.8× of the lens withoutdistortion. In some embodiments, the EFFL of the lens with distortioncompared to a lens without distortion may be any suitable factor greaterthan 1× of the EFFL of a lens without distortion as shown in FIG. 1A(e.g., greater than 1.1×, greater than 1.3×, greater than 1.5×, greaterthan 1.9×, etc.). Comparing the dashed line and the curve, the amount ofdistortion at the edge can be computed as dh/h, which is −44% in thiscase. The negative sign indicates barrel type of distortion (e.g.,compression type). In some embodiments, the amount of distortion at theedge of the lens with distortion may be any suitable negative amount,such as in the range of between −10% and −70% (e.g., −10%, −20%, −30%,−40%, etc).

Referring now to FIG. 5A, an exemplary square grid of points in the FOVmaps to the FPA for an undistorted centered lens of some embodimentsaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein is depicted. Asshown in FIG. 5A, the dots are uniformly distributed across the grid ofthe FPA, which represents that IFOV is approximately constant. The IFOVfor the region inside the dashed box is approximately the same as theIFOV for the region surrounding the dashed box.

Referring now to FIG. 5B, an exemplary square grid of points in the FOVmaps to the FPA for a distorted centered lens of some embodimentsaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein is depicted. Asshown in FIG. 5B, the dots are distributed across the grid of the FPA inbarrel/fisheye distortion pattern, which represents that IFOV is smallertoward the center of the FPA than at the edges of the FPA. The IFOV forthe region (e.g., a central region) inside the dashed box is less thanthe IFOV for the peripheral region surrounding the dashed box, and thisrepresents that the pixel density is greater in the central region,which can be used to improve the detection of point source objects(e.g., approach lights) as compared to a lens without distortion.

Referring now to FIG. 5C, an exemplary square grid of points in the FOVmaps to the FPA for a distorted decentered lens of some embodimentsaccording to the inventive concepts disclosed herein is depicted. Asshown in FIG. 5C, the dots are distributed across the grid of the FPA inbarrel distortion pattern which is off-centered, which represents thatIFOV is smaller toward the lower central region of the FPA than at theedges of the FPA. The IFOV for the region (e.g., a lower central region)inside the dashed box is less than the IFOV for the peripheral regionsurrounding the dashed box, and this represents that the pixel densityis greater in the lower central region, which can be used to improve thedetection of point source objects (e.g., approach lights) as compared toa lens without distortion.

Referring now to FIG. 6 , an exemplary embodiment of a method 600according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein may include one ormore of the following steps. Additionally, for example, some embodimentsmay include performing one or more instances of the method 600iteratively, concurrently, and/or sequentially. Additionally, forexample, at least some of the steps of the method 600 may be performedin parallel and/or concurrently. Additionally, in some embodiments, atleast some of the steps of the method 600 may be performednon-sequentially. For example, the steps may be performed by the atleast one processor 108.

A step 602 may include acquiring a raw image (e.g. a raw distortedimage) from an image generator (e.g., sensor 104).

A step 604 may include detecting point source objects (e.g., approachlights) and enhancing the point source objects.

A step 606 may include performing other image processing operations.

A step 608 may include undistorting the image by known coefficients, forexample, to remove barrel distortion. The coefficients may becoefficients in a multivariate polynomial distortion correctionequation. In general, a distortion map may be a function mapping backand forth between two-dimensional pixel coordinates of undistorted anddistorted images. This map can be represented many ways algorithmicallywith adequate accuracy, for example, by certain types of formulas, or bysome interpolated look-up table. Depending on specific application, thismap can be known by design or can be measured in production.

A step 610 may include displaying the undistorted and enhanced image toa pilot.

Further, the method 600 may include any of the operations disclosedthroughout.

Referring now to FIGS. 7A-7C, exemplary embodiments of the EFVS 100according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein are depicted. TheEFVS 100 may include a lens (e.g., 102A, 102B, or 102C) and a sensor104. The lens (e.g., 102A, 102B, or 102C) may be positioned between theenvironment—to be captured by the sensor 104, and the sensor 104. Asshown in FIG. 7A, the lens 102A may be a centered lens with distortionpositioned with an optical axis of the lens orthogonal to the imagecapturing surface of the sensor 104. As shown in FIG. 7B, the lens 102Bmay be a decentered lens with distortion positioned with an optical axisof the lens orthogonal to the image capturing surface of the sensor 104.Any unused portion of the lens 102B may be omitted (e.g., chopped off)to reduce size and weight. As shown in FIG. 7C, the lens 102C may be adecentered lens with distortion (with tilted element(s)) positioned witha reference axis of the lens non-orthogonal (e.g., tilted) to the imagecapturing surface of the sensor 104. Any unused portion of the lens 102Cmay be omitted to reduce size and weight.

As will be appreciated from the above, embodiments of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein may be directed to system and a methodconfigured to utilize a decentered lens and/or a lens with distortion toimprove detection of point source objects by increasing a pixel densityin a region of interest.

As used throughout and as would be appreciated by those skilled in theart, “at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium” may refer toas at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., memory110; e.g., at least one computer-readable medium implemented ashardware; e.g., at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium,at least one memory (e.g., at least one nonvolatile memory, at least onevolatile memory, or a combination thereof; e.g., at least onerandom-access memory, at least one flash memory, at least one read-onlymemory (ROM) (e.g., at least one electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM)), at least one on-processor memory (e.g., atleast one on-processor cache, at least one on-processor buffer, at leastone on-processor flash memory, at least one on-processor EEPROM, or acombination thereof), or a combination thereof), at least one storagedevice (e.g., at least one hard-disk drive, at least one tape drive, atleast one solid-state drive, at least one flash drive, at least onereadable and/or writable disk of at least one optical drive configuredto read from and/or write to the at least one readable and/or writabledisk, or a combination thereof), or a combination thereof).

As used throughout, “at least one” means one or a plurality of; forexample, “at least one” may comprise one, two, three, . . . , onehundred, or more. Similarly, as used throughout, “one or more” means oneor a plurality of; for example, “one or more” may comprise one, two,three, . . . , one hundred, or more. Further, as used throughout, “zeroor more” means zero, one, or a plurality of; for example, “zero or more”may comprise zero, one, two, three, . . . , one hundred, or more.

In the present disclosure, the methods, operations, and/or functionalitydisclosed may be implemented as sets of instructions or softwarereadable by a device. Further, it is understood that the specific orderor hierarchy of steps in the methods, operations, and/or functionalitydisclosed are examples of exemplary approaches. Based upon designpreferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy ofsteps in the methods, operations, and/or functionality can be rearrangedwhile remaining within the scope of the inventive concepts disclosedherein. The accompanying claims may present elements of the varioussteps in a sample order, and are not necessarily meant to be limited tothe specific order or hierarchy presented.

It is to be understood that embodiments of the methods according to theinventive concepts disclosed herein may include one or more of the stepsdescribed herein. Further, such steps may be carried out in any desiredorder and two or more of the steps may be carried out simultaneouslywith one another. Two or more of the steps disclosed herein may becombined in a single step, and in some embodiments, one or more of thesteps may be carried out as two or more sub-steps. Further, other stepsor sub-steps may be carried in addition to, or as substitutes to one ormore of the steps disclosed herein.

From the above description, it is clear that the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein are well adapted to carry out the objects and to attainthe advantages mentioned herein as well as those inherent in theinventive concepts disclosed herein. While presently preferredembodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein have beendescribed for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood thatnumerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves tothose skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the broadscope and coverage of the inventive concepts disclosed and claimedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: at least one display; atleast one lens, the at least one lens including a lens havingdistortion, the at least one lens configured to focus light receivedfrom an environment; at least one image generator configured to receivethe light from the at least one lens and output a stream of images asimage data, wherein each of the stream of images is distorted; and atleast one processor configured to: receive the image data from the atleast one image generator; detect at least one point source object inthe stream of images of the image data; enhance the at least one pointsource object in the stream of images of the image data; undistort thestream of images of the image data having at least one enhanced pointsource object; and output a stream of undistorted images as undistortedimage data to the at least one display, wherein the distortion is barreltype distortion, wherein a field of view (FOV) of the at least one imagegenerator has a first region of relatively lower instantaneous field ofview (IFOV) as compared to a second region of relatively higher IFOV,wherein the lens is decentered, wherein the first region is a lowercentral region of the FOV.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of theat least one point source object in the in the stream of images is asingle pixel in the stream of images.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinthe environment includes a runway and approach lights at least partiallyobscured by daytime fog, wherein the at least one point source objectincludes at least one approach light.
 4. The system of claim 3, whereinthe at least one display, the at least one lens, the at least one imagegenerator, and the at least one processor are implemented in anaircraft.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one imagegenerator comprises a focal plane array (FPA).
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one image generator comprises a camera.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the light comprises visible light.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor being configuredto enhance the at least one point source object in the stream of imagesof the image data by increasing a size of each of the at least one pointsource object from a single pixel to multiple pixels.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one processor being configured to enhancethe at least one point source object in the stream of images of theimage data by changing at least one of a color or brightness of the atleast one point source object.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the atleast one display comprises a head-up display (HUD) installed in anaircraft.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one displaycomprises a head-down display (HDD) installed in an aircraft.
 12. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a vision system at leastcomprising the at least one lens, the at least one image generator, andthe at least one processor.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein thevision system is an enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) installed in anaircraft.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one lens istilted relative to a surface of the at least one image generator. 15.The system of claim 1, wherein the light comprises infrared light.
 16. Avision system, comprising: at least one lens, the at least one lensincluding a lens having distortion, the at least one lens configured tofocus light received from an environment; at least one image generatorconfigured to receive the light from the at least one lens and output astream of images as image data, wherein each of the stream of images isdistorted; and at least one processor configured to: receive the imagedata from the at least one image generator; detect at least one pointsource object in the stream of images of the image data; enhance the atleast one point source object in the stream of images of the image data;undistort the stream of images of the image data having at least oneenhanced point source object; and output a stream of undistorted imagesas undistorted image data to at least one display, wherein thedistortion is barrel type distortion, wherein a field of view (FOV) ofthe at least one image generator has a first region of relatively lowerinstantaneous field of view (IFOV) as compared to a second region ofrelatively higher IFOV, wherein the lens is decentered, wherein thefirst region is a lower central region of the FOV.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the vision system is an enhanced flight vision system(EFVS) installed in an aircraft.
 18. The system of claim 16, whereineach of the at least one point source object in the in the stream ofimages is a single pixel in the stream of images, wherein theenvironment includes a runway and approach lights at least partiallyobscured by daytime fog, wherein the at least one point source objectincludes at least one approach light.
 19. A method, comprising:focusing, by at least one lens, light received from an environment, theat least one lens including a lens having distortion; receiving, by atleast one image generator, the light from the at least one lens;outputting, by the at least one image generator, a stream of images asimage data, wherein each of the stream of images is distorted; receivingthe image data from the at least one image generator; detecting at leastone point source object in the stream of images of the image data;enhancing the at least one point source object in the stream of imagesof the image data; undistorting the stream of images of the image datahaving at least one enhanced point source object; and outputting astream of undistorted images as undistorted image data to at least onedisplay, wherein the distortion is barrel type distortion, wherein afield of view (FOV) of the at least one image generator has a firstregion of relatively lower instantaneous field of view (IFOV) ascompared to a second region of relatively higher IFOV, wherein the lensis decentered, wherein the first region is a lower central region of theFOV.